Perry Watch: Governor’s spirited performance in New Orleans shows why he could be a strong GOP primary candidate

“Do you know Rick?” the billboard on the way in from the New Orleans airport inquires.

The sign touts a local restaurant, but for many of the conservative, mostly Southern, activists attending the Republican Leadership Conference the past few days, the question was appropriate.

Still seeking a presidential contender who can win not only their hearts but the White House in 2012, they were eager to hear from the man introduced to them as “the longest-serving and most successful governor in the nation.”

Rick Perry wowed 'em in Nawlins. (AFP photo)

“He’s rugged, he’s manly, he’s conservative and he’s been successful at implementing all his programs. He will beat Obama handily,” predicted Mary Maloney, a New Jersey attorney who was waiting in line Saturday for Gov. Rick Perry to autograph his book, “Fed Up.”

By the time Perry gave his eagerly awaited speech a couple of hours later, the crowd, restive after a long afternoon of hearing from relative unknowns, greeted the potential presidential hopeful with a standing ovation.

Offering a reprise of slogans from his campaign against Democratic challenger Bill White last year, and more recently in speeches around the country as he ponders a run for the presidency, Perry immediately went after Obama and Washington.

“I’ve seen what we’ve done in Texas over the last 10 years,” he told the cheering crowd. “Our conservative leadership has brought unmatched job creation, including 47.8 percent of all jobs created in America in the last two years. We’re the No. 1 exporting state in the nation, and we’ve got a balanced budget to boot.”

He noted that the Texas Legislature in recent weeks balanced the budget without raising taxes and while maintaining essential services, and still left $6 billion in the state’s rainy day fund.

He ticked off the “emergency items” he had designated early in the legislative session: “loser pay” legislation as a hedge against frivolous lawsuits and a photo ID requirement for voters.

“Don’t you think it’s fair to apply at least the same standard (as) to get a library card?” he asked. He also noted the Legislature was “protecting the sanctity of life with a bill requiring a sonogram for those seeking an abortion.”

Perry reminded his continuously cheering audience that “our loudest opponents on the left are never going to like us, so let’s quit trying to relate to them. Let’s take pride in our morals and our values and redouble our efforts to elect more conservative Republicans.”

He told his listeners he would keep them apprised of his plans.

“The good news is, we’ve got the wind at our back right now, because Americans are waking up to the realities of their previous choices; they’re settin’ things right with their votes.”

He ended his 20-minute speech with shouts of “If we don’t do it, who will?” and “If not now, when?” The crowd leaped to its feet, chanting “Run, Rick, Run!”

Perry's political adviser: Dave Carney at the Capitol in Austin. (Harry Cabluck/Associated Press)

Whether he will, said Dave Carney, Perry’s key political adviser, is still undecided.

“When the governor sits down to think about this, he’ll have to think about fundraising and building an infrastructure, raising money, and then does he have enough time left to campaign — just a lot of logistical things that he has to consider,” the New Hampshire-based consultant said.

Carney, one of several advisers who quit the Newt Gingrich campaign recently, said he couldn’t say for sure when Perry would decide, other than “sometime this summer.”

The Texas governor was the biggest name Saturday among a lineup of speakers primarily from Louisiana and the South.

On Friday, attendees of the three-day event heard from several long-shot presidential candidates, including Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, a Tea Party favorite, and Herman Cain, a former Godfather’s Pizza chief executive who has never held elective office.

They also heard from Gingrich, whose candidacy appears to be on the ropes after his staff quit, and U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Lake Jackson.

Libertarian standard-bearer Paul handily won the conference’s straw poll, announced Saturday afternoon, while former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman came in second. Perry wasn’t on the ballot.

The biggest names who’ve declared their candidacy, including former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, skipped the annual gathering.

Huntsman, who until recently was Obama’s ambassador to China and is expected to announce his candidacy this week, stayed away as well, saying he was suffering from a cold.

Despite rumors to the contrary, Sarah Palin didn’t make a surprise visit.

Most of those who heard Perry’s speech said they’d consider supporting him if he gets in the race.

“I thought he was phenomenal,” said Todd Kincannon, an attorney from Columbia, S.C. “If nothing else, he’d push everybody to the right. And I like his attention to state sovereignty.”

“I was fascinated by him,” said Arnold Weiner, a courts administrator from Memphis, Tenn. “He’s very charismatic, although I don’t know anything about his foreign policy.”

Crafting a foreign policy would be one of several challenges awaiting Perry if he decides to run. He also would have to deal with scrutiny of his decade-long tenure as governor and the likelihood that his opponents would offer up an alternative narrative for a state that has the fourth-highest percentage of children living in poverty and the highest percentage of uninsured residents in the nation.

He also would have to defend multibillion-dollar cuts in public education, higher education and health and human services.

For now, though, many of the Republicans who went to New Orleans are hoping Perry takes the plunge.

“I think he’s got a good chance to win,” said Harold LaCour, a retired salesman from Gonzales, La. “All he has to do is to tell the nation that he’ll do for America what he did for Texas.”